Nursing nipple straw



July 17, 1962 J. oLTloN l-:TAL

NURSING NIPPLE STRAW Filed Aug. 11, 1959 API (fof/N z. 770A/ GLEN gow/6 INVENToRs.

BY nm" rrowsy.

'3,044,650 Patented July 17, 1962 3,644,650 NURSING NHPLE STRAW .lohn ltion, 1707 Santa Rosa St., and Glen Ladwig, 1619 (isos St., both of San Luis Obispo, Calif. Filed Aug. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 833,032 11 Claims. (El. 21S-11) This invention relates to nursing bottles and particularly to a nursing nipple straw to be associated with such a bottle.

A number of difficulties are experienced in using nursing bottles in the feeding of infants. One of these is that an infant under certain circumstances sucks in a lot of air which he swallows before or after getting the milk n the bottle and this air is the cause of colic which results in considerable distress to the child.

1t is an object of the present invention to greatly limit the opportunities for `a nursing infant to obtain a substantial amount of air in -feeding from a nursing bottle.

Another diicu-lty met with in the use of nursing bottles is that after an infant has satisfied himself in nursing from the 'bottle there is a substantial -amount of milk left in the nipple and the infant then has a tendency to pinch the nipple and discover that he can spray milk over things.

in this way and as a result produces a mess which has to be cleaned up.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nursing nipple straw which wi-ll eliminate the problems of an infant obtaining a substantial amount of air from the bottle but at the same time will lallow Ithe milk to drain from the nipple when the bottle is returned to erect position with sufficient rapidity that the opportunity for the infant to squirt milk from the nipple by pinching the latter is substantially e-liminated. p

Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a nursing nipple straw which will function to prevent an infant swallowing a large amount of 4air received from the nursing bottle at the beginning of a feeding therefrom and ywill likewise prevent his swallowing an excessive amount of air at the conclusion of such a feeding when the bottle is practically empty of milk.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a nursing nipple straw which is simple in construction and is made of non-corrosib-le materials which are readily clemed and sterilized between uses thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a nursing nipple straw which may be easily stored in a clean bottle between uses.

The manner of accomplishing the Aforegoing objects as well las further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a nursing bottle of a type in common use 'with a preferred embodiment of the present invention installed in said bottle.

FlG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the foot valve and oating air valve of the invention with these in closed position as occurs when this valve is not submerged in milk.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic View of the nursing bottle shown in FIG. l with the bottom of this inclined upwardly as such a bottle is commonly held in the hands of an infant during -a nursing when the infant is lying on its back, and shows how the float valve of the invention drops into the downwardly disposed part of the bottle so that the infant may suck a major portion of the milk from the bottle while it is thus inverted.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional View of a modified form of the invention with this shown separate from a nursing bottle and with the float valve thereof shown in closed position as is the case whenever this is not submerged in a liquid.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the oat valve of the nursing nipple straw shown in FIG. 4 illustrating this as when it is submerged in liquid, at which time the float valve is open.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the nursing nipple straw 10, shownV in these views consti-tutes a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is Villustrated as associated with a nursing bottle 11 having a screw cap 12 for applying to said bottle Ia rubber nursing nipple 13 having a base wall 14 in which a central opening 15 is formed and from a lower portion of which a sealing flange 16 extends outwardly to where it lies between the cap 12 and the upper end of bottle 11 to Iform a seal between the bottle and the cap when the latter is screwed onto said bottle.

The nursing nipple straw includes an adapter 17 having an annular groove 18 which is adapted to make a snug liquidtight it with the opening "15 when the adapter 17 is pushed through this opening. The adapter p 17 has a vertical passage 19 extending therethrough, an

upper portion lof this passage being enlarged to form a ball chamber 20, the lower portion of which is conical and the upper end of which is closed by a screen 25 which is mounted in an annular internal groove 26 formed in the adapter 17. Trapped in the chamber 20 by the screen 25 is yan imperfectly spherical stainless steel check-valve ball 27 which is larger than the lower portion of the passage 19 so as to form a check valve when it rests upon the seat provided at the juncture of the passage 19 and the chamber 20. t j

The lower portion 29 of the adapter 17 is of reduced diameter and cylindrical in form and is adapted to be snugly inserted into the upper end of an enlarged portion 30 of a flexible tube 31 of the nursing nipple straw 10.

At its lower end tube 3-1 connects with a combination float valve and check valve 32 which includes a tubular element 33 having a central bore *34 and counterbore 35 at the juncture of which a foot valve seat 36 is provided. The upper end portion of element 33 is turned down to receive the lower end of tube 31 stretched to iit over this element and to provide a shoulder 37 which constitutes a stop for the -lower end of the tube 31. Formed inwa-rdly from the bore 35 is a pair of studs 38 which trap an imperfectly spherical stainless steel ball 39 in the counterbore '35.

The ele-ment 33 has a frusto-conical head 45 formed on its lower end which has a transverse passage 46 formed therein connecting with the lower end of bore 34 and opening outwardly on a conical valve face 47 provided on the head 45. Normally resting downwardly on the head 45 is an annular oat valve 48 which is formed of a hollow shell of plastic or other light material with a concave conical valve seat 49 ground thereon so as to make a sealing lit with the head face 47 when the float valve 4S is free to rest downwardly thereagainst. The float valve 43 is heavy enough to readily respond to gravity to seat itself in the manner above described when it is not 'immersed in liquid but it has suilicient buoyance to readily lift the valve upwardly against tube 31 which forms an upper stop for this movement of the iioat valve, thereby opening the passage 46 for communication through this with the space near the bottom of the bottle 11.

When using the nipple straw 10 with a nursing bottle 11 as above described, the straw is assembled on the nipple 13 as shown in FIG. 1 before the cap 12 is applied to the bottle 11, and after a body of milk 50 has been poured into the bottle, combined foot valve and float valve 32 is lowered into the milk 50 with the cap 12 held upwardly above the upper end of the bottle, and the thumb and forenger of the other hand is applied to the enlarged portion 30 of the tube 31 and this is squeezed and released successively to provide a pumping action which sucks milk upwardly through the tube 31 and discharges it past the valve ball 27 into the nipple 13 until this is llcd with milk. The cap 12 is then screwed onto the bottle 11 and the latter is given to the infant for feeding. Whether the infant nurses this from a sitting position in which the bottle 11 is substantially upright or whether the infant is reclining so that the bottle will be tipped as shown in FIG. 3, the combined foot and `float valve 32 by its weight always hangs at the lower end of the tube 31 so that, in either case, the combined valve is near the lower portion of the milk in the bo-ttle 11.

It is thus seen that the infant gets nothing but milk from the nipple 13 throughout its feeding from the bottle 11. When the milk level in the bottle 50 drops to the place where the float valve 48 is no longer sustained by the milk in its valve opening position, this float valve drops to the position shown in FIG. 2 in which it closes passage u 13 quickly demonstrates to the infant that there is no more milk to be had therefrom, he stops nursing on this nipple.

If the infant is disposed to play with the nipple 13 by pinching this to squirt milk therefrom when the bottle is upright, this opportunity will be greatly limited by the fact that the leakage permitted past the imperfectly spherical balls 27 and 30 allow the milk to drain from the nipple 13 in less than one minute.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and as embodied in a nursing nipple straw 50, This includes an adapter 61 (which is like the adapter 17 excepting that `the screen and ball 27 are eliminated therefrom), a tube 62 which is like tube 31 (excepting that the enlarged portion is eliminated therefrom), and a combination check valve and float valve 63. This combination valve includes a tubular element 64 with a bore 65 controlled by a stainless steel ball 66 to form a foot valve in the same manner as the ball 39 operates in combination valve 32. A lower counterbore 67 provided in the bore 65 houses a poppet valve 68 mounted on a lever 69 which extends through a wedge-shaped opening 7() in the wall of element 64 and has mounted on its outer end a oat ball 71. This ball is protected from interference by a screen 72 mounted on the element 64.

Although di'lfering in structure the combination Valve 63 operates in exactly the same manner as the combination valve 32, the only difference between the mode of operation of the straw 60 and the straw 10 being those resulting from the absence of these elements eliminated from the upper end of straw 60.

To facilitate the bending of the tube 31 to allow the combination float valve and check valve 32 to sink to the end of the bottle 11 disposed downward as shown in FIG. 3, the tube 31 may be provided with a single helical turn shown by broken lines 30 in FIG. l so as to prevent the kinking of this tube during this bending thereof. While a full helical turn is shown by the broken line 80, in some instances only a one-half helical turn in the tube 31 may be effective in giving it the desired degree of flexibility.

While only one preferred embodiment and one modication of the invention is shown and described herein, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in these without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

The claims are:

l. In combination: a nursing bottle having a nursing nipple mounted thereon; an adapter inserted upwardly in the base of said nipple when in use, said adapter making a substantially fluidtight tit with said nipple and having a central passage extending vertically therethrough; a flexible tube the upper end of which connects with said adapter so as to communicate with said passage, the lower end of said tube extending to a point near the bottom of said bottle; and a float valve connected to the lower end of said tube so as to be located adjacent the bottom of said bottle when the latter is held upright, said float valve opening when submerged in liquid and thus causing the lower end of said tube to communicate through said valve with the lower portion of said bottle, said valve closing by gravity when no longer submerged in liquid so as to close the lower end of said tube to the introduction of air thereinto.

2. A combination as in claim l in which said tube is flexible so that when said bottle is substantially inverted in the process of feeding an infant therefrom, said tube r bends permitting said valve to sink towards the portion of said bottle disposed downwardly whereby a major portion of the milk in said bottle may be sucked therefrom by the infant feeding from said bottle.

3. A combination as in claim 1 in which a gravity check-valve is provided in said nursing straw which prevents a rapid reverse flow of liquid in said straw but permits liquid to be sucked upwardly through said straw to said nipple.

4. A combination as in claim 3 in which said checkvalve is embodied with said oating valve.

5. A combination as in claim 3 in which said tube has an enlarged portion where it connects with said adapter, said enlarged portion constituting a flexible bulb pump which by successive manipulations between the lingers may be employed to pump milk upwardly `through said straw into said nipple after said foot valve has been lowered into the liquid in said bottle and before said cap has been applied to said bottle so as -to ll said nipple with liquid and thus prevent air being made readily accessible to the infant to be fed from said bottle after the cap is applied thereto.

6. A combination as in claim 3 in which said checkvalve is formed kby a valve seat in a portion of the passage extending through said straw, and a ball resting on said seat, said -ball having an imperfectly spherical surface causing ya slow leakage of liquid past the check-valve whereby liquid filling said nipple when said bottle is upright will gradually seep back through said straw into said bottle.

7. in combination: a nursing bottle having a nursing nipple mounted thereon; an adapter inserted upward in the base of said nipple when in use, said adapter making a substantially fluidtight lit with said nipple and having a central passage extending vertically therethrough; a flexible tube the upper end of which connects with said adapter so as to communicate with said passage and the lower end of which extends to a point near the bottom of said bottle; a float valve connected to the lower end of said tube so as to be located adjacent the bottom of said bottle when the latter is held upright, said tloat valve opening when submerged in liquid and thus causing the lower end of said tube to communicate through said valve with the lower portion of said bottle, said valve closing by gravity when no longer submerged in liquid so as to close the lower end of said tube to air in the lower end of said bottle; a gravity check valve provided in the passage of said adapter preventing a rapid downward tiow of liquid through `said passage; a check valve ernbodied with said 'loat valve and preventing a rapid downward flow of liquid from the lower end of said tube; and an enlargement formed in said tube between said adapter and said float valve which is adapted to be compressed and released by the lingers successively to pump liquid upwardly through said tube and into said nipple to ll the latter with liquid before the cap is applied to Said bottle for presentation of the latter to an infant for a feeding. l

8. A combination as in claim 7 in which said combination oat and check-valve includes a tubular element having a bore and a counterbore providing a valve seat and ball retaining means in said counterbore, and a valve ball 4trapped in said counterbore by said retaining means, said tubular element also having a frusto-conical head at its lower Aend providing a float valve seat on its periphery and having ports opening on said seat yand formed by -a passage extending transversely through said head and communicating with said bore; and a oat valve com-V oat valve to rise and uncover said ports thus permitting t communication through said transverse passage and said bore with said counterbore when the latter is placed under suction.

9. A combination as in claim 8 in which said tubular element is turned down at the end thereof in which said cou-nterbore is formed to provide a connecting portion which is adapted to be inserted in the lower end of said tube, a shoulder thus being provided on said element serving as a stop for the lower end of said tube whereby the latter functions as an upper limit stop for the travel of said iioat valve on said tubular element.

10. In combination: a nursing lbottle having a nursing nipple mounted thereon; an adapter inserted upwardly in the base of said nipple when in use, said adapter making a substantially uidtight rit with said nipple and having a central passage extending vertically therethrough; a exible tube the lupper end of which connects with s-aid adapter so as to communicate with said passage, the lower end of .said tube extending to a point near the bottom of said bottle, there being a helical bend permanently formed in said tube at a point intermediate its upper and lower ends to permit the ready flexing of said tube; 4and a weight provided on the lower end of said tube which will cause said tube to iiex when Said bottle is inverted and will draw the lower end of said tube to the portion of said bottle which is lowermost thereby permitting a relatively large proportion of the milk in said bottle to be withdrawn by a nursing infant through said nipple.

1l. A combination as in claim l0 in which said weight on the lower end of said tube includes a float valve which is responsive to submersion in liquid to move to -an open position and to its removal from such immersion to move to a closed position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

